Aeroplane attachment



G. C. STEVENS. AEHOPLANE ATTA'CHMENT. kAPPLICATION FILED OCT. 13, 1920.A

1,396,894, 'I Patented Nov. 15, 1921.

Geo/'039C .Sfax/iam,...

. 7 INVENTOR.

l To all whom t may concern:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE C. STEVENS, F SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

" AEEOPLENE ATTACHMENT.

Be it known that I. GEORGE C. STEVENS, a citizen of the UnitedStates,and residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State ofWashington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAeroplane Attach! ments, of which the following is a' specication. 'Y

`The invention relates to an improvement in aeroplane attachments,particularly seaplanes capable of alighting onand arising' from.thesurface of the water.

`Sea planes of 'this type are, as is well known, provided with two ormore pontoons acting as floating supports for the sea plane. It is theobject of the present invention to provide these pontoons, or one'ofthem, with charge of the water means for controlling an opening 'intothe interior of said' pontoon, whereby the pontoon may be permitted toll with water when the sea plane is supported on the sur' face, and theaeroplane may carry said water filled pontoons over a remote localityand discharge the water from the pontoon over a desired area. Theinvention is particularly useful to members lo'f the forestry guard, inwhich service aeroplanes and the like have.been heretofore used toenable the guard to supervise a large territory, as with an availablebody of water, the guard has at command, a means whereby he maytransport a considerable quantity of water to a small or startingre,'and so direct the disas to aid in extinguishinof the fire.

n the drawings Figure l is a side elevation of a sea plane of 'one ofthe p'ontoons vpartly in section to illustrate the valve-mounting Fig. 2iS an enlarged plan showing the of the present invention,

of the sea plane 2, and of usual hollow conp n VSpecification of LettersPatent. Patented Now, 15, 1921, rApplication led October 13, 1920.Serial No. 416,608. l'

opening, andsaid valve is adapted to be.

operated by a rod5, which extends through an elongated opening 6 in thetop of the pontoon and is pivotally. supported ad- )jacent said pontoonand top between ears Y as more particularly shown in Fig.12.

The rod 5 extends to a-position convenient to the aviator, so thathefmay readily control the opening 3 at will; l In use having)discovered a fire, the. aviator -2- ma-y fly to a ody .of waterandlanding upon the Same, permltthe pontoon to ll or partially fill byobvious control ofthe Valve' 3. Then with the water filled pontoon, the

sea plane will be caused to rest on the surface' and fly at anappropriate altitude over the area on fire, when the valve 3 is operatedto permit the discharge of the Water from the pontoon onto the burningsurface.

Obviously a. number of such sea planes could by the volume of waterdischar ed check or even put out a considerable nre,

yand to this'ex'tent the invention is a,valuable Vpivoted in the topportion and having an Y end portion extending into the pontoonadjacentthe bottom opening, the other end portion extending to a pointadjacentthe operators seat, a valve member pivotedvto the end of said leverwithin the pontoon and adapted to close the opening in thebottomthereof.4 y

f qIn testimony whereof I aiix my signature.

GEORGE o. STEVENS.

